PLAYERS Championship: Power ranking the top 10 at TPC Sawgrass

Rickie Fowler gave us one of the more thrilling Players Championship finishes in history in 2015. He picked up what remains his biggest win to date when he played his last six holes in 6-under to reach a playoff where he defeated Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.

Fowler also cashed a fat check in 2012 when he finished T2 and just two off the pace. Five missed cuts are a little concerning, but there’s not a player who’s played TPC Sawgrass as much as he has who hasn’t struggled here from time to time.

“…having some course knowledge definitely helps, but more so if you’re on top of your game makes it a lot easier,” Fowler said in 2016. “If you’re driving the ball well, it frees you up a lot more to actually be able to hit the greens and have control of the golf ball going into the greens. You start missing fairways, then you’re hitting it into some funky lies around greens and it’s just tough to play this golf course from anywhere but the fairway and the green, so I feel like the combination of knowing the golf course a bit better and also growing as a golfer and continuing to get better a bit more efficient and better at controlling my game when I’m not completely on over the past couple years has definitely been a big key to playing better these past few years.”

The 30-year-old bounced back from a winless 2018 by winning his second start of 2019 at the Phoenix Open. Fowler got himself right back in the ring at the Honda Classic where he was a lengthy Keith Mitchell birdie putt from entering a playoff.

This will be Fowler’s fourth week playing in a row. He finished T40 (74-71-71-71) last week  and while never a threat, posting 2-under on the weekend in tough conditions at Bay Hill was nothing to be ashamed of.

The Florida resident should be plenty familiar putting Bermuda greens and he ranks eighth on Tour in strokes gained. He’s a positive across the board in strokes gained sixth in birdie average.